William L. Harding was a Republican Governor of Iowa from 1917 - 1921.

Harding opposed extending voting rights for women and road improvements. He curried favor among German-American voters who did not like Woodrow Wilson's pro-British positions.

One of his more infamous acts was to issue the Babel Proclamation in 1918. This act, which is widely believed to have been unconstitutional, forbade the use of foreign languages in public, over the telephone, in school, and in religious services. It came about due to the large Anti-German sentiment during the First World War.